Analyzing elements of serial fiction in all media. Humor attempted on a daily basis.

Episode 117: Harry Potter Epilogue

Finale week on the blog coincides with farewell to Gabe week around here so posts will probably come late as friends gather to say their goodbyes. I was going to do a long rant on the Harry Potter series and the entirety of Deathly Hallows as an ending but that could span almost a full length book chapter. So let me skip over the multitude of character deaths and reveals and just focus on the final chapter/epilogue for the book and the heptology (fancy word for thing with seven parts).

Years after the battle at Hogwarts between the essences of good and evil, the heroes gather once again at Platform 9 3/4 and await a very familiar train. The Hogwarts Express continues to take the next generation of mages towards the school of wizardry. Our protagonists and several other characters now send off their own children for another year of schoolwork. Harry Ginny’s three kids, Ron and Hermione’s kids, even Draco’s kid is around. The sense of confusion the Chosen One felt so long ago before his journey into the magical world is no more as there is a hefty familiarity with the children now having the basic knowledge of all things Hogwarts. Albus Severus Potter, the second son is concerned about the sorting process and what would happen if he is not Gryffindor, or worse a Slytherin. His father explains that there is nothing to worry about as they say goodbye towards one more school year. The famous line at the end where it is declared that Harry’s scar did not hurt in all those years or that never hurt from there on out effectively creates a very final conclusion in which any conflict of the epic ominous variety is no longer a factor and thus that the story of adventure has been over.

Of course, the story is not technically over since JK Rowling continues to add more information about what went on in interviews and whatnot. She says how Harry and pals become aurors, that Hermione actually finished her seventh year at Hogwarts, and even some ship sinking as she states that Neville and Luna did not end up together. These are facts delivered by the author. She also does some emotional ret cons when she declares that maybe it should have been Harry and Hermione that should have gotten their “happily ever after” together. This is an authorial performance I explain in greater detail where this is what I call an authorial performance wherein she continues to extend the story by providing specifics to satiate the curiosity of the readership of things that were not said outright.

Also, let me just quickly talk about the fan theory that states that Harry might be immortal. It makes its way around the Internet in various formats but this is the first link I found so let’s go with that one. http://imgur.com/QsXxDWg

It’s a very Tolkienesque reading that bases that death is something that becomes sacrificed for the point of greater good. With death being the ultimate ending/new beginning/transition there is no way to achieve a conclusion, you keep going even as the natural order is for things to decline and for new life to emerge. Immortality is only cool until you realize that after the golden years it means that the lives of everyone else will pass you by as you remain almost stationary within the grander scheme of things. I remember a conversation with a friend of mine on super heroes where we made the point that Wolverine needs to have amnesia periodically in order to better cope with his extended lifespan of maybe centuries depending on the version. The first Highlander movie explains the emotional ramifications pretty well but ignore the rest of that film series if you value your cinematographic tastes.